Chongo Nation

There are job losses – we’re diving into a depression – as I wrote this days ago wall street was opening to a 400 point drop. Markets were crashing all around the world.

Just yesterday I came back home to see my Super installing a security system. His only words were, “You know – things are going to start changing”. The words resonated… I thought of George R.R. Martin’s saga “the song of ice and fire”, and the quote that inevitably came to mind was “winter is coming”. The people who seem to be locking things up are older. I guess they know what a financial tsunami actually means to our real lives. Honestly I have absolutely no idea, but maybe not having any money to begin with is a part of that.

So what are we supposed to do?

A week or two ago I came upon an article about a guy who goes by the name of Chongo. The article is poetic and captures the magnetism this man must have. For those who don’t know who or what Chongo is consider this a small crash course. He invented big wall climbing, lived in Yosemite National Park for years with other hippies, pondered philosophy & physics for days as he hanged from cliffs, and is homeless by choice.

More about what makes Chongo so bitchin’ after the jump… and what we should be doing in times of woe…

You may think he’s outlandish like Timothy Treadwell from the film “Grizzly Man” (a bear activist who crossed the line to insanity). This is not Chongo. So who is Chongo? Sure he created big wall climbing and he is almost mythical as far as the stories go… But what I like best is that he is a prolific author.

Everything from “The Complete Book of Big Wall Climbing” to the equally necessary companion volume “The Quotable Chongo: On How to Be Bitchin, Volume One”. These two compendiums offer enough insights for any man. However the book that really caught my attention was “The Homeless Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: Quantum Theory Without Any Math”.

I immediately wanted it – I went to Amazon to see if the book existed. There was an old copy being sold. I was checking out when I figured maybe I should see if he is still putting out new books. I stumbled upon chongonation.com the one stop shop on the Internet for all things Chongo. The site is really barebones, and whoever is distributing the books has not made for the easiest checkout.

So here is a tutorial… although to this date I have yet to receive my book.

1. Go to your paypal account and give the website money.

2. Leave your email address so they can get the rest of your info later.

3. Wait worriedly as money is taken out of your account, but there is no guarantee that a book will arrive.

4. Write an email to make sure everything is okay.

5. Get a personal reply from Chongo. That’s right Chongo. Who reassures you the book is coming, and that he knows Spanish just in case you would rather speak to him in another language.

So how does this all relate? Good question. Buy Chongo and become Chongo and all will be well? I guess not. Although it’s probably not a bad idea for some.